KATIE ZERR: Residents again step up for community

Mobridge residents once again stood up and in the face of a bit of uncertainty made their hometown a priority.

In Tuesday’s election, voters decided to move forward with the pool project, even though they are uncertain what will be happening with property taxes.

As a community, it shows that we have pride in where we live. It shows in our Main Street, in our school district and in our homes. This vote shows we are willing to sacrifice as someone did before us so that our kids and their kids will have the same happy memories that we did of growing up in a small town in South Dakota.

Many aspects of life are very different now, but one thing remains the same: the children living here still have the freedom to be kids.

It means they can throw their gloves and their swimsuits in a backpack, jump on their bikes in the morning for baseball practice and swimming lessons, have lunch at the school and spend the afternoon at the pool.

Parents can feel safe knowing their kids are in a group-supervised situation for nearly the entire day.

Residents made the decision despite all of the rumors that have swirled around this project in the past couple of years. They came forward despite the efforts of some individuals to spread untruths and scramble facts to make themselves appear to be a reliable alternative to having to make a sacrifice.

Members of our community have stepped up despite the fact that there are uncertainties on the horizon.

There are still rumors flying about what is going to happen to our taxes, but the bottom line is that if the entire town is reassessed at the market value for all properties, there are people in our community who will be paying less than they did last year.

To those people who live on a fixed income, but still decided they would help to build the pool, their sacrifices are meaningful. They made the decision that the good of the many sometimes over rides the needs of the one.

To those who worry about what this is going to mean to their tax bills, remember there is a committee of people out there who are dedicated to finding ways to lessen that bill every year. They said their work is not done and that they will continue raising funds through events and special projects. We can expect to continue to see annual events dedicated to shrinking the burden on our community.

We have members of our community and business owners who have made pledges to donate money for five or 10 years. They believe the pool is an important asset to our community.

We also have a dedicated city council that realizes putting funding aside every year is important and they will continue to do so. They have made a pledge to that.

To those who have proclaimed loud and long about the cost of living in Mobridge, it is time to make some comparisons to other parts of the country and what we pay for what we have.

The information is out there. If people actually look rather than listen to others complain, they would find out that for the amenities that we have here, in our backyards, our cost of living is not that high.

We have to remember that there are many children in this community whose parents work hard every day to give their kids a better life. They struggled like their parents struggled and we struggled to make a living and to give our kids the opportunity to just be kids.

They chose to live here because it is safe, the community cares and the kids have a good educational and recreational environment.

They deserve to enjoy it as we did when we were kids.

The work is not over. That has been repeated over and over again in most corners of this community. But it is time to move forward.

Congratulations, Mobridge residents! You came through once again for the betterment of the community.

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